Black Agenda Radio – 04.30.18

Welcome to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host Nellie Bailey. Coming up: a call for a new kind of peace movement, one that cares about the whole of humanity; Mumia Abu Jamal’s lawyers believe they have a good case for ending his long incarcartion; and, the government of Colombia has detained two women activists in the struggle for Black territorial and community rights.

President Trump’s national security advisor, John Bolton, is said to have never seen a war he didn’t like – but, that applies to a lot of Republicans AND Democrats. We spoke with Phyllis Bennis, director of the New International Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, in Washington. Bennis thinks Bolton is an especially dangerous man.

President Trump came into office promising to be tough on China, and he has been pushed by the Democrats to increasingly confront Russia. However, with Asia now, not only the population center of the planet, but also home to the most dynamic economies, the U.S. role in the world seems more and more to be holding back human progress. In Philadelphia, Duboisian scholar and lifelong activist Dr. Anthomy Monteiro says what’s needed in the U.S. is a new kind of peace movement.

Also in Philadelphia, supporters of Mumia Abu Jamal, the nation’s best known political prisoner, will gather on April 30th for a hearing in a Pennsylvania state court. Lawyers for Abu Jamal believe they have a good case for overturning his conviction or gaining a new trial in the 1981 death of a police officer. Ronald Castille was a top prosecutor at the time. Castille later became a judge, and repeatedly turned down Mumia’s appeals. Gwen DeBrow, of the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home, says Castille should not have been allowed anywhere near Mumia’s appeals process. She thinks there may be a real path to freedom for Abu Jamal, but you also need big demonstrations to make that happen.

Black Colombian community organizations are demanding the release from detention of two of their leaders, Sara Quiñonez and her mother Tulia Maris Valencia. The women are members of the Black Communities Process, or PCN, which advocates for Black territorial and civil rights in the war torn South American country. Charo Mina-Rojas is a spokesperson for Black Communities Process. She explains what happened to her comrades.